Users of computer resources frequently access web pages in order to retrieve information and/or to provide information. The web pages may be accessible via the Internet, an intranet or other network including proprietary networks. Users commonly access a series of web pages, such as by progressing from a root web page to more detailed web pages. Thus, a navigation path may be defined based upon the series of hyperlinks selected by the user in order to navigate to the respective web pages.
In order to facilitate navigation through the web pages, a developer of a web site must generally define the hyperlink to each of the individual web pages in advance, regardless of whether a user ever endeavors to access the web pages. The definition of the hyperlink for each web page may require a developer to expend at least some development time and resources, such as to wrap the hyperlink in an anchor tag, one attribute of which that must be defined being the hypertext reference (href) that defines the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the target web page and the clickable anchor text that appears on the web page from which the target web page is accessed. Additionally, the developer must generally construct the target web page including the content of the web page and the hyperlink trail that leads to the respective web page.
Users may sometimes wish to access a prior web page that was previously accessed, but from which the user has since navigated away. In order to access the prior web page, the user may actuate a “back” button or may otherwise indicate their desire to return to the prior web page, such as by selecting a hyperlink associated with the prior web page. In some instances, efforts to return to a prior web page may cause the user to return, instead, to the root web page. In this instance, the user must then again follow the navigation sequence that leads from the root web page to the web page of interest, thereby increasing the user input required to return to the prior web page and decreasing the efficiency of the navigation sequence. In instances in which efforts to return to a prior web page cause a reversion to the root web page as well as in instances in which the prior web page is accessed more directly, user data that was previously provided in conjunction with the prior web page will not generally be available. For example, data regarding selections by the user in conjunction with the user's earlier interaction with the prior web page may not be reflected upon return to the prior web page and, as such, the user may again be required to make those same selections, presuming the user recalls the prior selections. In any event, the reentry of the data associated with the prior web page decreases the efficiency with which the user is able to interact with the various web pages of the navigation path.